The invention relates to a support for drums of various sizes and shapes.
Modern drums are based on the traditional instruments from Africa or Latin America and can have different sizes and forms so that different stands for them are necessary for playing them comfortably. Most of the commercially available stands are useful only for a single drum type, e.g. for Conga drums. They are bulky and troublesome in their handling. For adjusting its height position the instrument has to be taken from the stand, and the stand has to be adjusted, possibly several times until the optimum playing height and position is achieved. The hitherto commercially available stands cannot be used when playing in a sitting position.
The object of the invention is to provide a support for drums which is suitable for carrying drums of various sizes and shapes. A further object is to provide a drum support which is compact and collapsible and can easily be transported and stowed. A further object of the present invention is to provide a drum support which can be conveniently handled. Furthermore, the object of the invention is to provide a drum support which can be mounted on a tripod and allows to adjust elevation without removal of the drum from the support. Finally, the drum support should be usable by a sitting player.
According to the invention these objects are achieved by a drum support comprising a shelf with three or more arms, a mounting element at the bottom of the shelf for mounting the shelf on a tripod, and three or more sticks distributedly arranged at the periphery of the shelf and projecting upwards. The support enables the player to arrange for the optimum drum position with respect to height an inclination. The support allows playing optionally when standing (with the support being mounted on a tripod) or sitting (without mounted on a tripod). If the tripod is not used for the support a stool plate instead of the support can be mounted so that a stool for the player is provided. The drum support can remain mounted at the drum in each playing position and when the instrument is transported. This allows a quick setting up and dismantling of the instrument and a space saving as well as a quick change of the playing position for the percussionist.
According to a preferred embodiment of the support its arms are telescopic and their lengths are securable by means of set screws. By this the support can be adapted to drums having different diameters at their bottom. Furthermore the effective length of the arms can be decreased so that the sticks can be introduced through the open bottom into the drum for holding the drum from inside.
Preferably, the tilt angle xcex1 of the sticks to the shelf plane is variable. For this the sticks are preferably pivoted at the free ends of said arms so that the stick is swingable in the plane defined by the support axis and said arm. By this means the support can be adapted to differently shaped drums, especially Conga drums with upwards increasing cross section.
Preferably, an adjusting screw connected to a plate above the shelf for supporting the bottom of a drum is arranged in one of said arms. The supporting plate can be lifted by the adjusting screw so that the tilt of the drum can be varied even when the player is sitting. Conveniently, the supporting plate is connected to said adjusting screw via a ball-and-socket joint. In this way the supporting plate is tilted with the inclination of the drum standing on the plate.
In a special embodiment of the support a drum closure plate is fastened at said mounting element on said shelf. The drum usually open at its bottom side can be at least partially closed with use of this closure plate so that drums can be played optionally closed or open. With the stand systems hitherto available this is not possible without any problems.
A further embodiment of the drum support is characterized in that the sticks extend downwards beyond the bottom of the mounting element whereby support feet are formed for using the support of the invention without a tripod or other separate stand. This allows the drum to be plaid by a sitting percussionist without separating it from the support. The said feet assure the sufficient ground clearance for an unaffected sound development.
Conveniently, each foot comprises an adjusting screw, and each arm has a downwards directed stop finger serving as a stop for the adjusting screw. The tilt of the sticks when engaging the drum wall can be limited in this way and consequently adapted to the shape of the drum, especially when upwards divergently formed.
Preferably, the sticks and the arms of the shelf are coated at least partially by an elastic layer. This layer can be made of rubber or plastics. It protects the surface of the instrument so that the optical design of its surface is not impaired. Furthermore any slippage of the drum in the support and any noise generation due to contacts between the drum and the sticks and arms of the support are avoided. For the same purpose the shelf and eventually the drum closure plate can be at least partially coated by elastic layers.
Preferably, the sticks comprise lower parts articulated at the arms, and upper parts which are axially displacable and rotatable in said lower parts and can be extended from them and each have two contact fingers forming an obtuse angle with each other. These telescopic sticks allow the extension so that long drums (having a big axial length) can be stably supported. The axial rotability assures that both contact fingers of each stick automatically engage the drum.